Method and device for determining a number of MIMO layers

ABSTRACT

The embodiments herein relate to a method in a base station for communicating with a user equipment in the communication network. The base station is configured to communicate with the user equipment according to a selectable of at least two user equipment categories. Based on information about a selected user equipment category, the base station determines a first number of maximum transmission layers supported by the base station. The base station communicates with the user equipment according to up to the determined first number of maximum transmission layers and according to the selected user equipment category.

This application is the U.S. national phase of International ApplicationNo. PCT/SE2011/051228, filed 14 Oct. 2011, which designated the U.S. andclaims priority to U.S. Provisional No. 61/474,938, filed 13 Apr. 2011,the entire contents of each of which are hereby incorporated byreference.

TECHNICAL FIELD

Embodiments herein relate generally to a base station and a method inthe base station, and to a User Equipment (UE) and a method in the userequipment. More particularly the embodiments herein relate to radiocommunications, and in particular, to user equipment capabilities.

BACKGROUND

In a typical cellular radio system, wireless terminals communicate via aRadio Access is Network (RAN) to one or more Core Networks (CN). Thewireless terminals are also known as mobile stations and/or userequipment units, such as mobile telephones, smart phones, cellulartelephones, tablet computers and laptops with wireless capability, e.g.,mobile termination, and thus may be, for example, portable,pocket-storable, hand-held, computer-comprised, or vehicle-mountedmobile devices which communicate voice and/or data via the radio accessnetwork. In the following, the term user equipment is used whenreferring to the wireless terminal.

The RAN covers a geographical area which is divided into cell areas,with each cell area being served by a Base Station (BS), e.g., a RadioBase Station (RBS), which in some networks is also called NodeB, B node,evolved Node B (eNB) or Base Transceiver Station (BTS). The term basestation will be used in the following when referring to any of the aboveexamples. A cell is a geographical area where radio coverage is providedby the radio base station equipment at a base station site. The basestations communicate over the air interface operating on radiofrequencies with the user equipment units within range of the basestations.

In some versions, particularly earlier versions, of the radio accessnetwork, several base stations are typically connected, e.g., bylandlines or microwave, to a Radio Network Controller (RNC). The radionetwork controller, also sometimes termed a Base Station Controller(BSC), supervises and coordinates various activities of the basestation(s) connected thereto. The radio network controllers aretypically connected to one or more core networks.

The Universal Mobile Telecommunications System (UMTS) is a thirdgeneration mobile communication system, which evolved from the GlobalSystem for Mobile Communications (GSM), and is intended to provideimproved mobile communication services based on Wideband Code DivisionMultiple Access (WCDMA) access technology. Universal Terrestrial RadioAccess Network (UTRAN) is essentially a radio access network usingwideband code division multiple access for user equipment units. TheThird Generation Partnership Project (3GPP) has undertaken to furtherevolve the UTRAN and GSM based radio access network technologies.

Long Term Evolution (LTE) is a variant of a 3GPP radio access technologywherein the radio base station nodes are connected directly to a corenetwork, rather than to radio network controller nodes. In LTE thefunctions of a radio network controller node are generally performed bythe radio base station nodes. As such, the radio access network of anLTE system has an essentially “flat” architecture comprising radio basestation nodes without reporting to radio network controller nodes. LTEwas introduced in 3GPP with release 8. Release 9 and release 10 arelater releases of LTE. For example, release 8 may be referred to as e.g.rel-8, release 8, LTE release 8 or 3GPP release 8. The terms “codeword,”“layer,” “precoding,” and “beam forming” have been adapted specificallyfor LTE to refer to signals and their processing. A codeword representsuser data before it is formatted for transmission. The term “layer” issynonymous with stream. For Multiple Input Multiple Output (MIMO), atleast two layers must be used. Up to four are allowed. The number oflayers is always less than or equal to the number of antennas. Precodingmodifies the layer signals before transmission. This may be done fordiversity, beam steering, or spatial multiplexing. Beam forming modifiesthe transmit signals to give the best Carrier to Interference-plus-NoiseRatio (CINR) at the output of the channel.

In LTE, Hybrid Automatic Repeat reQuest (HARQ) with incrementalredundancy is used. HARQ is a technique that enables faster recoveryfrom errors in communication networks by storing corrupted packets inthe receiving device rather than discarding them. Even if retransmittedpackets have errors, a good packet may be derived from the combinationof bad ones. Instead of re-transmitting the same portion of thecodeword, different redundancy versions are re-transmitted yielding anextra gain over Chase combining.

Ideally, a full buffer is available at the receiver side such that thereceived soft values for an entire codeword may be stored. However, dueto the user equipment complexity and cost concerns, the soft buffer sizein a user equipment is limited. For higher rate transmissions, wherelarger codewords are sent from the transmitter, the user equipment haslimited buffer space and is not able to store the complete codeword. Thebase station may transmit coded bits the user equipment is not able tostore, or worse, the user equipment does not know that these are otherbits and confuses them with bits it previously has stored.

FIG. 1 depicts simplified a complete codeword and also how many softbits the user equipment is able to store. FIG. 1 illustrates an encodedtransport block and coded bits stored by the user equipment, i.e. softbuffer size. As seen in FIG. 1, the complete codeword comprisessystematic bits and parity bits, and the soft buffer size comprises allsystematic bits and some of the parity bits of the complete codeword. Aparity bit is a bit that is added to a group of source bits to ensurethat the number of set bits in the outcome is even or odd. The paritybit may be used to detect single or any other odd number of errors in anoutput. If the base station and the user equipment have the sameunderstanding about the soft buffer size, then the base station will nottransmit coded bits which the user equipment is not able to store.Instead, it only takes those coded bits stored by the user equipment anduses those bits for (re)transmissions. This is depicted by the circularbuffer shown in FIG. 2. The term circular buffer refers to an area in amemory which is used to store incoming data. When the buffer is filled,new data is written starting at the beginning of the buffer andoverwriting the old data. The codeword, i.e. the systematic bits and theparity bits, are stored in the circular buffer. FIG. 2 illustrates bitsused in a first transmission and re-transmissions, derived from thecircular buffer. The size of the circular buffer matches the soft buffersize of the user equipment. The complete circle in FIG. 2 corresponds tothe soft buffer size and not to the entire codeword. In the firsttransmission, depending on the code rate, some or all systematic bits,and none or some parity bits are transmitted. In a retransmission thestarting position is changed and bits corresponding to another part ofthe circumference, e.g. another point in the circular buffer, aretransmitted.

In LTE release 8 using Frequency-Division Duplexing (FDD), each userequipment has up to 8 HARQ processes per component carrier. Each HARQprocess may comprise up to two sub-processes for supportingdual-codeword MIMO transmissions. Release 8 of LTE divides the availablesoft buffer equally into the configured number of HARQ processes. Eachof the divided soft buffers may be used to store soft values of thereceived codewords. In case of dual-codeword MIMO transmission, thedivided soft buffer is further divided equally to store the soft valuesof the two received codewords.

In 3GPP the soft buffer size allocation is provisioned as below:

The circular buffer w_(k) for the r-th coded block is generated asfollows:w _(k) =v _(k) ⁽⁰⁾ for k=0, . . . , K _(Π)−1w _(K) _(Π) ₊₂ k=v _(k) ⁽¹⁾ for k=0, . . . , K _(Π)−1w _(K) _(Π) ₊₂ k+1=v _(k) ⁽²⁾ for k=0, . . . , K _(Π)−1where K_(Π) is a constant.

The circular buffer has the length K_(w)=3K_(Π).

Denote the soft buffer size for the transport block by N_(IR) bits andthe soft buffer size for the r-th code block by N_(cb) bits. The sizeN_(cb) is obtained as follows, where C is the number of code blocks:

$N_{cb} = {{\min\left( {\left\lfloor \frac{N_{IR}}{C} \right\rfloor,K_{w}} \right)}\mspace{14mu}{for}\mspace{14mu}{downlink}\mspace{14mu}{turbo}\mspace{14mu}{coded}\mspace{14mu}{transport}\mspace{14mu}{channels}}$

N_(cb)=K_(w) for uplink turbo coded transport channels,

where N_(IR) is equal to:

$N_{IR} = \left\lfloor \frac{N_{soft}}{K_{MIMO} \cdot {\min\left( {M_{DL\_ HARQ},M_{limit}} \right)}} \right\rfloor$

where:

N_(soft) is the total number of soft channel bit.

K_(MIMO) is equal to 2 if the user equipment is configured to receivePhysical Downlink Shared Channel (PDSCH) transmissions based ontransmission modes 3, 4 or 8, 1 otherwise.

M_(DL) _(—) _(HARQ) is the maximum number of DL HARQ processes.

M_(limit) is a constant equal to 8.

The Soft Buffer (SB) allocation for the single-codeword transmissionmodes is illustrated in FIG. 3. FIG. 3 illustrates 8 allocated softbuffers, where SB0 illustrates a first soft buffer for a first codeword,SB1 illustrates a second soft buffer for a second codeword, SB2illustrates a third soft buffer for a third codeword etc. FIG. 3 showssoft buffer allocation in LTE release 8 when the Physical DownlinkShared Channel (PDSCH) transmission mode is other than mode 3, 4 or 8.It may be observed that there is a buffer reserved for each codeword.

The soft buffer allocation for the dual-codeword transmission modes isillustrated in FIG. 4. FIG. 4 illustrates 16 allocated soft buffers,where SB0 a illustrates a first buffer for a first codeword, SB0 billustrates a second buffer for a second codeword, SB1 a illustrates athird buffer for a third codeword, SB1 b illustrates a fourth softbuffer for a fourth codeword etc. The soft buffer applies to a codeword.The codeword is a term used for the coded bits associated with atransport block. FIG. 4 shows soft buffer allocation in release 8 of LTEwhen the PDSCH transmission mode is mode 3, 4 or 8. The transmissionmodes will be described in more detail below.

The buffer reserved for each codeword is only half of the previousoperating case. The soft buffer limitation problem is particularly acutein dual-codeword MIMO transmission operations. This limitation reducesthe effectiveness of soft combining gains from incremental redundancyretransmissions.

Carrier Aggregation.

The release 8 of LTE supports bandwidths up to 20 Mega Hertz (MHz).However, in order to meet the International MobileTelecommunications-Advanced (IMT-Advanced) requirements, 3GPP initiatedwork on LTE release 10. One part of LTE release 10 is to supportbandwidths larger than 20 MHz. An important requirement for LTE release10 is to assure backward compatibility with LTE release 8, includingspectrum compatibility. As a result, a carrier of LTE release 10, whichis wider than 20 MHz, may appear as a number of smaller LIE carriers toa user equipment of LTE release 8. Each such carrier may be referred toas a component carrier or cells. For early LTE release 10 deployments,it may be expected that there will be a smaller number of LTE release10-capable user equipments compared to many LTE legacy user equipments.Therefore, it is desirable to assure an efficient use of a wide carrierby legacy user equipments, which means that it may be possible toimplement carriers where legacy user equipments may be scheduled in allparts of the wideband LTE release 10 carrier. One way to achieve thiswould be using Carrier Aggregation (CA).

Carrier aggregation implies that a user equipment supporting LTE release10 may receive multiple component carriers, where the component carriershave, or at least may have, the same structure as a carrier of LIErelease 8. Carrier Aggregation is illustrated in is FIG. 5. The x-axisof FIG. 5 denotes the width of the spectrum used for the five componentcarriers and the y-axis defines the energy per frequency unit.

Soft Buffer Operation in Carrier Aggregation.

In LTE each component carrier operates with its own set of HARQprocesses. Since the total soft buffer memory needs to be shared amongcomponent carriers, the soft buffer size per component carrier may varydepending on the number of configured component carriers and the numberof configured MIMO transmission modes for each component carriers. Theavailable soft buffer size for each codeword also depends on how thesoft buffer is divided and allocated amongst all codewords.

Multi-Antenna Support in LTE.

Multi-antenna capabilities are included already in release 8 of LTE, andare important enablers for high data rates, improved coverage andcapacity. The multiple antennas at transmitters and receivers may beused in different ways. Diversity techniques are used to improve therobustness of the link. Beam-forming techniques may be used to improvethe coverage. Spatial multiplexing provides a means to enhance thespectral efficiency of the link and improves the performance of thewhole system if properly designed. Peak rates may be substantiallyincreased using spatial multiplexing and is ideally be increasedproportionally to the minimum number of transmit and receive antennas ofthe link, provided that the Signal-to-Noise Ratio (SNR) is high enoughand that the channel conditions are beneficial. Realistic gains arehighly channel dependent, they require a high SNR and beneficialinterference situations of the relevant link, but may be substantiallyimproved provided that the SNR is sufficiently high. Examples are lowsystem load scenarios or when the user equipment is close to the cellcenter.

The downlink in LTE release 8 supports Single-User MIMO (SU-MIMO)spatial multiplexing of up to four layers via codebook based precoding.In addition, transmit diversity modes as well as beamforming withsingle-layer transmission are supported in the downlink of LTE release8. In LTE release 9, an enhanced downlink transmission mode isintroduced in which the beamforming functionality is extended to alsosupport dual-layer transmission, and in which Multi-User MIMO (MU-MIMO)operation is offered where different layers are transmitted to differentusers. The uplink multi-antenna support in LTE release 8/9 is limited touser equipment antenna selection, which is optional in all UEcategories. The UE categories will be described in more detail below.

A user equipment of LTE release 8 assumes its number of layers based onthe minimum of what the base station supports and what the userequipment supports. The user equipment determines how many layers thebase station supports by either blindly detecting how many Cell-specificReference Signal (CRS) antenna ports the base station is transmittingfrom, or in the case of a HandOver (HO), by receiving the informationabout the how many antenna ports the target cells supports in theHO-command.

Multi-antenna transmission is an important feature in LTE release 8. LTEsupports the following 8 transmission modes (TM):

-   -   Mode 1: Single antenna port.    -   Mode 2: Transmit diversity.    -   Mode 3: Open-loop spatial multiplexing.    -   Mode 4: Closed-loop spatial multiplexing.    -   Mode 5: MU-MIMO.    -   Mode 6: Closed-loop spatial multiplexing, single layer.    -   Mode 7: Single antenna port, user equipment specific reference        signal.    -   Mode 8: Single or dual-layer transmission with user equipment        specific reference signal.

LTE-Advanced, i.e. LTE release 10, comprises a mode 9, in addition tomodes 1-8. Mode 9 is a multilayer transmission mode supportingclosed-loop SU-MIMO up to rank 8 and enhanced MU-MIMO support.

UE Category Signaling.

User equipments may be categorized in different user equipmentcategories, called UE categories or UE classes, which defines theoverall performance and capabilities of the user equipment. The userequipment category is from now on referred to as UE category. The UEcategories are needed to ensure that the base station may communicatecorrectly with the user equipment. By letting the base station know theUE category, it is able to determine the performance of the userequipment and communicate with it accordingly.

As the UE category defines the overall performance and the capabilitiesof the user equipment, it is possible for the base station tocommunicate using capabilities that it knows the user equipmentpossesses. Accordingly, the base station will not communicate beyond theperformance of the user equipment. Different values of a buffer size areassociated with each UE category.

In LTE release 8/9, there are five UE categories, 1-5. LTE release 10has three additional categories, 6-8.

The definition of UE categories of LTE release 10 builds upon theprinciples used in LTE release 8/9, where the number of UE categories islimited to avoid fragmentation of user equipment implementation variantsin the market. The LTE release 10 UE categories are defined in terms ofpeak rate, ranging from 10, 50, 100, 150 and 300 Mbps up to about 3 Gbpsin the downlink. Different realizations of the peak rates are possiblewithin a UE category. For example, in categories 6 and 7, it is possibleto either support two layers of MIMO together with carrier aggregationof 40 MHz, or four layers of MIMO with a single carrier of 20 MHz. Bothconfigurations support up to 300 Mbps. The LTE release 8/9 UE categoriesare reused, supporting, e.g. aggregation of two component carriers withup to 10 MHz bandwidth each for a user equipment of category 3. It isexpected that additional UE categories may be defined in the future. LTErelease 10 supports a high-end UE category combining aggregation of fivecomponent carriers of 20 MHz each with eight layer MIMO, which supportsa total peak data rate of about 3 Gbps for LTE-Advanced. Table 1 belowshows UE categories supported in LTE release 10. The left most columncomprises the UE categories 1-8. The next column comprises the maximumnumber of DownLink-Shared CHannel (DL-SCH) transport block bits receivedwithin a Transmission Time Interval (TTI). The middle column comprisesthe maximum number of bits of a DL-SCH transport block received within aTTI. The column to the right of the middle column comprises the totalnumber of soft channel bits. The right most column comprises the maximumnumber of supported layers for spatial multiplexing in DL. Spatialmultiplexing is a transmission technique in MIMO wireless communicationto transmit independent and separately encoded data signals from each ofthe multiple transmit antennas.

TABLE 1 UE categories supported in LTE release 10 Maximum number ofMaximum number of Maximum number of DL-SCH transport bits of a DL-SCHTotal number supported layers UE block bits received transport block ofsoft for spatial Category within a TTI received within a TTI channelbits multiplexing in DL 1 10296 10296 250368 1 2 51024 51024 1237248 2 3102048 75376 1237248 2 4 150752 75376 1827072 2 5 299552 149776 36672004 6 301504 149776 (4 layers) 3667200 2 or 4  75376 (2 layers) 7 301504149776 (4 layers) 3667200 2 or 4  75376 (2 layers) 8 2998560 29985635982720 8

The user equipment capability signaling of UE categories is defined inthe following way. LTE release 8/9 categories 1-5 are signaled from theuser equipment to the base station via the Radio Resource Control (RRC)protocol. The RRC protocol handles the control plane signaling of Layer3 between the user equipment and the UTRAN. LTE release 10 categoriesare signaled from the user equipment to the base station in separatelyvia the RRC protocol, using a LTE release 10 part of the RRC protocol.The receiver of the message is the base station, and it also the basestation that uses the received information. However, the user equipmentis not aware of the release of the base station. So in order to be ableto operate in a legacy network, a LTE release 10 user equipment wouldthus report both a LTE release 8/9 UE category (1-5) using a LTE release8/9 part of the RRC protocol and a LTE release 10 UE category (6-8)using a LTE release 10 part of the RRC protocol. The LTE release 10 UEcategory would be understood by a LTE release 10 base station, but notby the LTE release 8/9 base station. In addition, a LTE release 10 userequipment also informs the base station per frequency band combinationabout the supported number of supported MIMO layers in UpLink (UL) andDownLink (DL), as well as the number of supported aggregated componentcarriers. This information is only understood by a LTE release 10 basestation.

As an example, a LTE release 10 user equipment, e.g., category 6,indicates to a LTE release 10 base station that it supports up 4 MIMOlayers in the DownLink (DL). The LTE release 10 user equipment mayprovide this MIMO layer information in an Information Element (IE) sentin addition to the category values. This information element isunderstood by a LTE release 10 base station but ignored by a LTE release8/9 base station. A LTE release 8 base station that supports 4 MIMOlayers in DL identifies the user equipment through its LTE release 8/9category e.g., category 4, and therefore assumes that the user equipmentsupports only 2 layers of DL MIMO.

Because the user equipment is not aware of the release of the basestation, it does not know whether to operate according to an olderrelease, e.g., the LTE release 8/9 category, e.g. category 4, or a newerrelease, e.g., the LTE release 10 category, e.g. category 6. This hasserious consequences as the user equipment operates differentlydepending on the category. In this example, the user equipment mayassume that the base station operates according to 4 layer MIMO in DL,as it detects the Cell Reference Signal (CRS) pattern according to 4layer MIMO, and sends feedback to the base station to support 4 layer DLMIMO operation such as a rank indicator greater than 2, Channel QualityIndicator (CQI), and Pre-coding Matrix Index (PMI). But this leads tocorrupted UpLink (UL) control signaling as the base station assumes amaximum rank of 2 when decoding the control signaling, according to theLTE release 8/9 category, e.g. category 4, indicated by the userequipment. It may also lead to corrupted UL data if the UL data ismultiplexed together with the UL control signaling.

As another example, a LTE release 10 user equipment may support a highernumber of DL MIMO layers than what is required by the UE category. Ifthe user equipment operates according to the higher number of DL MIMOlayers in a base station that does not operator with this higher numberof DL MIMO layers, similar problems arise as described above.

SUMMARY

An object of embodiments herein is therefore to obviate at least one ofthe above disadvantages and to provide improved communication between auser equipment and a base station in a communications network.

According to a first aspect, the object is achieved by a method in abase station for communicating with a user equipment in thecommunication network. The base station is configured to communicatewith the user equipment according to a selectable of at least two userequipment categories. Based on information about a selected userequipment category, the base station determines a first number ofmaximum transmission layers supported by the base station. The basestation communicates with the user equipment according to up to thefirst number of maximum transmission layers and according to theselected user equipment category.

According to a second aspect, the object is achieved by a method in auser equipment for communicating with a base station in a communicationnetwork. The user equipment is configured to communicate with the basestation according to a selectable of at least two user equipmentcategories. Based on information about the selected user equipmentcategory, the user equipment determines a first number of maximumtransmission layers supported by the user equipment. The user equipmentcommunicates with the base station according to up to the first numberof maximum transmission layers and according to the selected userequipment category.

According to a third aspect, the object is achieved by a base stationfor communicating with a user equipment in the communication network.The base station is configured to communicate with the user equipmentaccording to a selectable of at least two user equipment categories. Thebase station comprises a determining unit which is configured to, basedon information about the selected user equipment category, determine afirst number of maximum transmission layers supported by the basestation. The base station comprises a communicating unit configured tocommunicate with the user equipment according to up to the first numberof maximum transmission layers and according to the selected userequipment category.

According to a fourth aspect, the object is achieved by a user equipmentfor communicating with a base station in a communication network. Theuser equipment is configured to communicate with the base stationaccording to a selectable of at least two user equipment categories. Theuser equipment comprises a determining unit configured to, based oninformation about the selected user equipment category, determine afirst number of maximum transmission layers supported by the userequipment. The user equipment further comprises a communicating unitwhich is configured to communicate with the base station according to upto the first number of maximum transmission layers and according to theselected user equipment category.

Since the base station and the user equipment have same understanding ofthe number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers, improved communicationbetween a user equipment and a base station in a communications networkis provided.

Embodiments herein afford many advantages, of which a non-exhaustivelist of examples follows:

An advantage of the embodiments herein is that they allow a LTE release10 user equipment to operate in a legacy network. The embodiments hereinallow a LTE release 10 user equipment with a number of DL MIMO layershigher than the required value in the UE category to operate in anetwork.

An further advantage of the embodiments herein is that the base stationand the user equipment will have the same understanding of the number ofmaximum supported DL MIMO layers. The base station may avoid schedulingthe user equipment with more DL MIMO layers then what it supports. Theuser equipment will not report CSI feedback that the base station doesnot understand. This has two advantages. Firstly, the base station mayschedule the correct number of DL MIMO layers in DL, so that userequipment is only scheduled with an amount its current channel supportsor what it actually supported by its capabilities. Secondly, in case theCSI feedback is transmitted multiplexed together with data on PUSCH, thedata on PUSCH will be possible to decode as the size of the CSI reportwill be known by the base station.

Another advantage of the embodiments herein is that they provideimproved coverage and capacity in the communications network.

A further advantage is that the embodiments herein reduce the risk ofcorrupted UL control signaling.

The embodiments herein are not limited to the features and advantagesmentioned above. A person skilled in the art will recognize additionalfeatures and advantages upon reading the following detailed description.

BRIEF DESCRIPTION OF THE DRAWINGS

The embodiments herein will now be further described in more detail inthe following detailed description by reference to the appended drawingsillustrating the embodiments and in which:

FIG. 1 is a schematic diagram showing an encoded transport block andcoded bits stored by a user equipment, i.e. soft buffer size.

FIG. 2 is a schematic diagram showing that bits used in the firsttransmission and re-transmissions are derived from a circular buffer.

FIG. 3 is a schematic diagram view showing soft buffer allocation inrelease 8 of LTE when the PDSCH transmission mode is other than mode 3,4 or 8.

FIG. 4 is a schematic diagram showing soft buffer allocation in release8 of LTE when the PDSCH transmission mode is mode 3, 4 or 8.

FIG. 5 is a diagrammatic view illustrating carrier aggregation.

FIG. 6 is a schematic block diagram illustrating embodiments of acommunications network.

FIG. 7 a-d are flowcharts illustrating embodiments of a method.

FIG. 8 is a flowchart illustrating embodiments of a method in a basestation.

FIG. 9 is a flowchart illustrating embodiments of a method in a userequipment.

FIG. 10 is a block diagram illustrating embodiments of a base station.

FIG. 11 is a block diagram illustrating embodiment of a user equipment.

FIG. 12 is a block diagram illustrating embodiments of base station anda user equipment.

The foregoing and other objects, features, and advantages of theembodiments herein will be apparent from the following more particulardescription of preferred embodiments as illustrated in the accompanyingdrawings in which reference characters refer to the same partsthroughout the various views. The drawings are not necessarily to scale,and the dimensions of certain features may have been exaggerated for thesake of clarity. Emphasis instead being placed upon illustrating theprinciples of the embodiments herein.

DETAILED DESCRIPTION

FIG. 6 depicts a communications network 600 in which embodiments hereinmay be implemented. The communications network 600 may in someembodiments apply to one or more radio access technologies such as forexample LTE, LTE Advanced, WCDMA, GSM, WiMAX, or any other 3GPP radioaccess technology.

The communications network 600 comprises a base station 603 serving acell. The base station 603 may be a base station such as a NodeB, aneNodeB, or any other network unit capable to communicate over a radiocarrier 604 with a user equipment 605 being present in the cell. Thebase station 603 may be a LTE release 8/9 or a LTE release 10 basestation.

The user equipment 605 may be any suitable communication device orcomputational device with communication capabilities capable tocommunicate with a base station over a radio channel, for instance butnot limited to mobile phone, tablet computer, smart phone, personaldigital assistant (PDA), laptop, MP3 player or portable DVD player, orsimilar media content devices, digital camera, or even stationarydevices such as a PC. A PC may also be connected via a mobile station asthe end station of the broadcasted or multicasted media. The userequipment 605 may also be an embedded communication device in e.g.electronic photo frames, cardiac surveillance equipment, intrusion orother surveillance equipment, weather data monitoring systems, vehicle,car or transport communication equipment, etc. The user equipment 605 isreferred to as UE in some of the figures. The user equipment 605 may bea LTE release 8/9 or LTE release 10 user equipment.

A user equipment 605 of LTE release 8/9 is of UE categories 1-5. Anothertype is a user equipment 605 which is of UE category 6-8, as illustratedin Table 1 above. This may be referred to as a LTE release 10 userequipment. In that case, the user equipment 605 always signals two UEcategories to the base station 603, independent of which LTE release thebase station 603 is. For example, a user equipment 605 of UE category 6also signals the UE category 5. If the base station 603 is of LTErelease 8/9, the base station 603 will only understand that the userequipment 605 is of UE category 5, as the user equipment 605 signalingfor of the UE category 6 is done in such way that a base station 603 ofan older release does not understand it and simply discards this part ofthe UE signaling.

The method for communicating in the communications network according tosome embodiments will now be described with reference to examples shownin the combined signaling diagrams and flowcharts depicted in FIGS. 7a-d.

FIG. 7 a illustrates an example of an embodiment where the userequipment 605 is of LTE release 8/9 and LTE release 10. The base station603 is of LTE release 8/9. As a default, the user equipment 605 assumesthat the number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers is the numberassociated with the LTE release 8/9 UE category. This is because theuser equipment 605 does not know if the base station 603 knows that theuser equipment 605 supports both LTE release 8/9 and LTE release 10. TheLTE release 8/9 base station 603 assumes the number of maximum supportedDL MIMO layers as per the required value from its LTE release 8/9category. The method comprises the following steps, which steps may aswell be carried out in another suitable order than described below.

Step 701 a

The user equipment 605 signals its capability to act according to atleast two different UE categories of different releases, one of whichrelates to LTE release 8/9 and another relating to LTE release 10 to thebase station 603. In addition to information about the UE categories,the user equipment 605 signals information about a number of maximumsupported DL MIMO layers for each category, e.g. a first number ofmaximum transmission layers and a second number of maximum transmissionlayers.

For example, the first UE category relating to LTE release 8/9 may be 3and the second UE category relating to LTE release 10 may be category 8.The number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers for category 3 is 2, andthe number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers for category 8 is 8, asseen from Table 1 above.

The user equipment 605 may be configured with UE capability parameterswhich indicates number of maximum DL MIMO layers it may support. This UEcapability parameter may be an explicit parameter. As a default, thisparameter corresponds to the number of maximum supported DL MIMO layersin the LTE release 8/9 UE category. Using the example described inabove, the LTE release 8/9 UE category is 3 and the corresponding numberof maximum supported DL MIMO layers is 2.

Step 702 a

As mentioned above, the base station 603 is of LTE release 8/9 in thisexample, and therefore the base station 603 determines a number ofmaximum supported DL MIMO layers according to its LTE release 8/9 UEcategory.

The base station 603 signals one or more UE capability parameters to theuser equipment 605. The UE capability parameters comprise the determinednumber of maximum supported DL MIMO layers according to LTE release 8/9.

For example, the base station 603 may be of UE category 4, and thecorresponding DL MIMO layers is 2. Thus, the base station 603 signals amaximum of 2 supported DL MIMO layers to the user equipment 605.

Step 703 a

The user equipment 605 and the base station 603 communicate according tothe LTE release 8/9 UE category together with up to the maximumsupported DL MIMO layers for that UE category. For example, the UEcategory is 5 and the maximum supported DL MIIMO layers is 4.

FIG. 7 b illustrates an example of an embodiment where the userequipment 605 supports LTE release 8/9 and a LTE release 10. FIG. 7 bdiffers from the example shown in FIG. 7 a in that the base station 603supports LTE release 10 and the figure comprises step 703 b. As adefault, the user equipment 605 assumes that the number of maximumsupported DL MIMO layers is the number associated the UE categoryassociated with LTE release 8/9. For example, if the UE category of LTErelease 8/9 is 3, then the associated maximum supported DL MIMO layersis 2, as seen from Table 1 above.

The method comprises the following steps, which steps may as well becarried out in another suitable order than described below.

Step 701 b

This step corresponds to step 701 a in FIG. 7 a.

The user equipment 605 signals its capability to act according to atleast two different UE categories of different releases, one of whichrelates to LTE release 8/9 and another relating to LTE release 10, tothe base station 603. In addition to information about the UEcategories, the user equipment 605 signals information about a number ofmaximum supported DL MIMO layers for each category, e.g. a first numberof maximum transmission layers and a second number of maximumtransmission layers.

For example, the first UE category relating to LTE release 8/9 is 3 andthe second UE category relating to LTE release 10 is category 6. Thenumber of maximum supported DL MIMO layers for category 3 is 2, and thenumber of maximum supported DL MIMO layers for category 6 is 4, as seenfrom Table 1 above.

The user equipment 605 may be configured with UE capability parameterswhich indicates the number of maximum DL MIMO layers it may support.This UE capability parameter may be an explicit parameter. As a default,this parameter corresponds to the number of maximum supported DL MIMOlayers in the LTE release 8/9 UE category. Using the example describedin above, the LTE release 8/9 UE category is 3 and the correspondingnumber of maximum supported DL MIMO layers is 2.

Step 702 b

This step corresponds to step 702 a in FIG. 7 a.

As mentioned above, the base station 603 supports LTE release 10 UE. Thebase station 603 supporting LTE release 10 and operates with a number ofmaximum DL MIMO layers larger than the number related to the respectiveLTE release 8/9 UE category indicated by the user equipment 605 in step701 b.

For example, the base station 603 may be of UE category 8, which isassociated with a number of 8 maximum DL MIMO layers. The number ofmaximum DL MIMO layers for category 8 supported by the base station 603is larger than the number of maximum DL MIMO layers for LTE release 10indicated by the user equipment 605, UE category 6, which is 4. 8>4.Then, the base station 603 signals a DL MIMO layer indication to theuser equipment 605 in order to request the user equipment 605 to operateaccording to a MIMO mode exceeding the number of MIMO layers accordingto the user equipments 605 LTE release 10 UE category 6, e.g. to operateaccording to up to 8 numbers of DL MIMO layers.

Step 703 b

When the number of maximum DL MIMO layers for the UE category 8 of LTErelease 10 is determined to be larger than the number of maximum DL MIMOlayers for the UE category 6 of LTE release 10, the user equipment 605obtains and reports, to the base station 603, rank, CQI, PMI, andPrecoding Type Indicator (PTI) according to the largest number of DLMIMO layers indicated by the base station 603 in step 702 b. The rankdetermines how many layers the user equipment 605 assumes it may bescheduled on. The PTI sets which type of PMI and CQI the user equipment605 reports. The PMI indicates which antenna weights the user equipment605 assumes is best to apply, i.e. in beamforming. The CQI relates towhich code rate the user equipment 605 is able to handle. If the userequipment 605 assumes that it may use more layers then what the basestation 603 thinks, the user equipment 605 may report a too high rank.In that case, the base station 603 is not able to understand the rankand will misunderstand the information as something else. It willneither be able to understand the PTI, CQI and PMI as this informationis based on rank the user equipment 605 has reported.

The base station 603 receives the rank, CQI, PMI and PTI and uses theinformation do link adaption in the DL (not shown in FIG. 7 b).

Step 704 b

This step corresponds to step 703 a in FIG. 7 a.

The user equipment 605 and the base station 603 communicate according tothe LTE release 10 UE category and according to up to the number ofmaximum supported DL MIMO layers for that LTE release 10 UE category.

FIG. 7 c illustrates an example of an embodiment where the userequipment 605 supports LTE release 8/9 and LTE release 10. The basestation 603 is of LTE release 10. The difference between FIGS. 7 c and 7b is that the base station 603 operates with a number of DL MIMO layerswhich is not larger than the required number from the respective UEcategory, and does therefore not signal a DL MIMO layer indication tothe user equipment 605. As a default, the user equipment 605 may assumethat the number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers is the same as thenumber of maximum transmission layers from the UE category according toLTE release 8/9. For a base station 603 of LTE release 10, the number oflayers may be between 1 to 8 layers, as seen in Table 1. It is anoperator choice and a choice of the base station vendor what to buildand use in reality. 3GPP only specifies the user equipments 605 defaultvalues and not the base stations 603. Simplified, the user equipment 605is “stupid” and needs to be told what to do. The base station 603 mayfigure out things based on this.

The method comprises the following steps, which steps may as well becarried out in another suitable order than described below.

Step 701 c

This step corresponds to step 701 a in FIG. 7 a and step 701 b in FIG. 7b.

The user equipment 605 signals its capability to act according to atleast two different UE categories of different releases, one of whichrelates to LTE release 8/9 and another relating to LTE release 10, tothe base station 603. In addition to information about the UEcategories, the user equipment 605 signals information about a number ofmaximum supported DL MIMO layers for each category, e.g. a first numberof maximum transmission layers and a second number of maximumtransmission layers.

For example, the first UE category relating to LTE release 8/9 may be 3and the second UE category relating to LTE release 10 may be category 8.The number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers for category 3 is 2, andthe number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers for category 8 is 8, asseen from Table 1 above.

The base station 603 operates with a number of DL MIMO layers which is 4in this example, i.e. UE category 6, which is not larger than therequired number from the respective UE category, i.e. 8, and doestherefore not signal a DL MIMO layer indication to the user equipment605.

Step 702 c

This step corresponds to step 703 a in FIG. 7 a and step 704 b in FIG. 7b.

The user equipment 605 and the base station 603 communicate using the UEcategory of LTE release 10 together with up to the number of maximumsupported DL MIMO layers for that LTE release 8/9 UE category.

FIG. 7 d illustrates an example of an embodiment where the userequipment 605 supports LTE release 8/9 and LTE release 10. The basestation 603 supports of LTE release 10, and operates with a number of DLMIMO layers which is not larger than the number associated with therespective UE category. The difference between FIGS. 7 d and 7 c, isthat in the example illustrated in FIG. 7 d, the base station 605signals the DL MIMO layer indication to the user equipment 605 eventhough the number of DL MIMO layers are lower than the required numberfrom the respective UE category. The indication comprises informationabout the number of maximum DL MIMO layers used in the base station 603.As a default, the user equipment 605 assumes that the number of maximumsupported DL MIMO layers is the required value from the LTE release 8/9UE category.

The method comprises the following steps, which steps may as well becarried out in another suitable order than described below.

Step 701 d

This step corresponds to step 701 a in FIG. 7 a, step 701 b in FIG. 7 band step 701 c in FIG. 7 c.

The user equipment 605 signals its capability to act according to atleast two different UE categories of different releases, one of whichrelates to LTE release 8/9 and another relating to LTE release 10, tothe base station 603. In addition to information about the UEcategories, the user equipment 605 signals information about a number ofmaximum supported DL MIMO layers for each UE category.

For example, the first UE category relating to LTE release 8/9 may be 3and the second UE category relating to LTE release 10 may be category 8.The number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers for category 3 is 2, andthe number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers for category 8 is 8, asseen from Table 1 above.

Step 702 d

The base station 603 operates with a number of DL MIMO layers which is 4in this example, i.e. UE category 6, which is not larger than therequired number from the respective UE category, i.e. 8. Even though thenumber of DL MIMO layers is lower, the base station 603 signals thenumber of DL MIMO layers that is used in the base station 603, i.e. thenumber of DL MIMO layers which is lower than the required number fromthe respective UE category.

Step 703 d

This step corresponds to step 703 b in FIG. 7 b.

When the number of DL MIMO layers is lower than the required number, theuser equipment 605 obtains and reports, to the base station 603, therank, CQI, and PMI according to the number of DL MIMO layers indicatedby the base station 603 or according to the required number from the UEcategory.

Step 704 d

This step corresponds to step 703 a in FIG. 7 a, step 704 b in FIG. 7 band step 702 c in FIG. 7 c.

The user equipment 605 and the base station 603 communicate using the UEcategory of LTE release 10 together with the number of maximum supportedDL MIMO layers for that UE category.

The signaling and restriction of the number of maximum supported DL MIMOlayers indication may be implemented in any suitable way. In oneembodiment, implicit signaling is used by the base station 603 to theuser equipment 605. For example, the indication to the user equipment605 of which UE category the base station 603 has capability to actaccording to, may either be specifically signaled to the user equipment605 or broadcasted. In another embodiment, the user equipment 605assumes a certain default value on its code book subset restrictionwhich corresponds to the number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers inthe LTE release 8/9 UE category that the user equipment 605 indicates.The code book subset restriction would restrict the maximum report rankfrom the user equipment 605 so that it as a default corresponds to thenumber of maximum DL MIMO layers that its LTE release 8/9 UE categorysupports. A LTE release 10 base station 603 has the possibility toremove these restrictions if it wants to operate the user equipment 605according to the number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers of LTErelease 10. This achieves a higher throughput to the user equipment 605.

The user equipment 605 may be configured with an explicit parameterindicating the number of maximum DL MIMO layers it is able to support.As a default, this parameter could correspond in the non-limitingexample to the number of maximum supported DL MIMO layers in the LTErelease 8/9 UE category that the user equipment 605 indicates. A LTErelease 10 base station 603 has the possibility to configure a differentvalue for this parameter, if it wants to operate the user equipment 605according to the user equipments 605 number of maximum supported DL MIMOlayers of LTE release 10. This achieves a higher throughput to the userequipment 605.

The method described above will now be described seen from theperspective of the base station 603. FIG. 8 is a flowchart describingthe present method in the base station 603 for communicating with theuser equipment 605 in the communication network 600. The base station603 is configured to communicate with the user equipment 605 accordingto a selectable of at least two user equipment categories. The methodcomprises the following steps, which steps may as well be carried out inanother suitable order than described below.

Step 801

This step corresponds to step 701 a in FIG. 7 a, step 701 b in FIG. 7 b,step 701 c in FIG. 7 c and step 701 d in FIG. 7 d.

In some embodiments, the base station 603 receives information about theat least two user equipment categories and a number of maximumtransmission layers for each user equipment category. The at least twocategories may be a first user equipment category and a second userequipment category. The number of maximum transmission layers may be afirst number of maximum transmission layers and a second number ofmaximum transmission layers.

In some embodiments, the selected user equipment category and the firstnumber of maximum transmission layers are associated with release 8/9 oflong term evolution, referred to as LTE, and the second number ofmaximum transmission layers are associated with release 10 of LTE. Insome embodiments, the selected user equipment category and the firstnumber of maximum transmission layers are associated with release 10 ofLTE, and the second number of maximum transmission layers are associatedwith release 8/9 of LTE.

Step 802

This step corresponds to step 702 a in FIG. 7 a, step 702 b in FIG. 7 b,step 702 c in FIG. 7 c and step 702 d in FIG. 7 d.

Based on information about a selected user equipment category, the basestation 603 determines a first number of maximum transmission layerssupported by the base station 603.

Step 803

This step corresponds to step 703 b in FIG. 7 b and step 703 d in FIG. 7d.

In some embodiments, the base station 603 receives channel stateinformation according to the first number of maximum transmission layersfrom the user equipment 605. The channel state information comprisesinformation about a state of a radio channel 604 between the userequipment 605 and the base station 603. The channel state informationmay be rank, CQI, PMI and PTI.

Step 804

This step corresponds to step 702 a in FIG. 7 a, step 702 b in FIG. 7 band step 702 d in FIG. 7 d.

In some embodiments, the base station 603 transmits information aboutthe first number of maximum transmission layers to the user equipment605. The first number of maximum transmission layers is supported by thebase station 603.

In some embodiments, the first number of maximum transmission layers istransmitted to to the user equipment 605 when the first number ofmaximum transmission layers is larger than the second number of maximumtransmission layers.

The base station 603 may transmit the information about the first numberof maximum transmission layers to the user equipment 605 via a radioresource control, referred to as RRC, protocol.

Step 805

This step corresponds to step 703 a in FIG. 7 a, step 704 b in FIG. 7 b,step 702 c in FIG. 7 c and step 704 d in FIG. 7 d.

The base station communicates with the user equipment 605 according toup to the first number of maximum transmission layers and according tothe selected user equipment category.

In some embodiments, the communication with the user equipment 605 usingup to the first number of maximum transmission layers and the selecteduser equipment category is a downlink communication in a direction fromthe base station 603 to the user equipment 605. This may be referred toas DL MIMO communication.

The method described above will now be described seen from theperspective of the user equipment 605. FIG. 9 is a flowchart describingthe present method in the user equipment 605 for communicating with thebase station 603 in the communication network 600. The user equipment605 is configured to communicate with the base station 603 according toa selectable of at least two user equipment categories. The methodcomprises the following steps, which steps may as well be carried out inanother suitable order than described below.

Step 901

This step corresponds to step 701 a in FIG. 7 a, step 701 c in FIG. 7 cand step 701 d in FIG. 7 d.

In some embodiments, the user equipment 605 transmits, to the basestation 603, information about the at least two user equipmentcategories and a number of maximum transmission layers for each userequipment category.

In some embodiments, the information about the first number of maximumtransmission layers is preconfigured in the user equipment 605.

In some embodiments, the selected user equipment category and the firstnumber of maximum transmission layers are associated with release 8/9 oflong term evolution, referred to as LTE, and the second number ofmaximum transmission layers are associated with release 10 of LTE. Insome embodiments, the selected user equipment category and the firstnumber of maximum transmission layers are associated with release 10 ofLTE and the second number of maximum transmission layers is associatedwith release 8/9 of LTE.

Step 902

This step corresponds to step 702 a in FIG. 7 a, step 702 b in FIG. 7 b,step 702 c in FIG. 7 c and step 702 d in FIG. 7 d.

Based on information about the selected user equipment category, theuser equipment 605 determines the first number of maximum transmissionlayers supported by the user equipment 605.

Step 903

This step corresponds to step 703 b in FIG. 7 b and step 703 d in FIG. 7d.

In some embodiments, the user equipment 605 obtains information about astate of a radio channel 604 between the user equipment 605 and the basestation 603 and according to the first number of maximum transmissionlayers.

Step 904

This step corresponds to step 703 b in FIG. 7 b and to step 703 d inFIG. 7 d.

In some embodiments, the user equipment 605 transmits the obtainedchannel state information to the base station 603.

Step 905

This step corresponds to step 702 a in FIG. 7 a, step 702 b in FIG. 7 band step 702 d in FIG. 7 d.

In some embodiments, the user equipment 605 receives information fromthe base station 603 about the first number of maximum transmissionlayers.

In some embodiments, the user equipment 605 receives information aboutthe first number of maximum transmission layers when the first number oftransmission layers is larger than the second number of maximumtransmission layers.

In some embodiments, the information about the first number of maximumtransmission layers is received 906 from the base station 603 via aradio resource control, referred to as RRC, protocol.

Step 906

This step corresponds to step 703 a in FIG. 7 a, step 704 b in FIG. 7 b,step 702 c in FIG. 7 c and to step 704 d in FIG. 7 d.

The user equipment 605 communicates with the base station 603 accordingto up to the first number of maximum transmission layers and accordingto the selected user equipment category.

In some embodiments, the communicating with the base station 603 usingup to the first number of maximum transmission layers and the selecteduser equipment category is a downlink communication in a direction fromthe base station 603 to the user equipment 605.

To perform the method steps shown in FIG. 8 for communicating with auser equipment 605 in a communications network 600 the base station 603comprises an arrangement as shown in FIG. 10. The base station 603 isconfigured to communicate with the user equipment 605 according to aselectable of at least two user equipment categories.

The base station 603 comprises a determining unit 1001 configured to,based on information about the selected user equipment category,determine a first number of maximum transmission layers supported by thebase station 603.

In some embodiments, the base station 603 comprises a transmitting port1003 which is configured to transmit information to the user equipment605 about the first number of maximum transmission layers. In someembodiments, the information about the determined selected number ofmaximum transmission layers is transmitted to the user equipment 605when the first number of maximum transmission layers is larger than thesecond number of maximum transmission layers. In some embodiments, thetransmitting port 1003 is further configured to transmit the informationabout the first number of maximum transmission layers to the userequipment 605 via a radio resource control, referred to as RRC,protocol. In some embodiments, the selected user equipment category andthe first number of maximum transmission layers are associated with oneof release 8/9 of long term evolution, referred to as LTE, and thesecond number of maximum transmission layers is associated with release10 of LTE. In some embodiments, the selected user equipment category andfirst number of maximum transmission layers are associated with one ofrelease 10 of LTE the second number of maximum transmission layers isassociated with release 8/9 of LTE.

The base station 603 comprises a communicating unit 1005 configured tocommunicate with the user equipment 605 according to up to the firstnumber of maximum transmission layers and according to the selected userequipment category. In some embodiments, the communication with the userequipment 605 according to up to the first number of maximumtransmission layers and the selected user equipment category is adownlink communication in a direction from the base station 603 to theuser equipment 605.

In some embodiments, the base station 603 comprises a receiving port1008 configured to receive, from the user equipment 605, informationabout the at least two user equipment categories and a number of maximumtransmission layers for each user equipment category. In someembodiments, the receiving port 1008 is further configured to receivechannel state information according to the first number of maximumtransmission layers from the user equipment 605. The channel stateinformation comprises information about a state of a radio channel 604between the user equipment 605 and the base station 603.

To perform the method steps shown in FIG. 9 for communicating with abase station 603 in a communications network 600 the user equipment 605comprises an arrangement as shown in FIG. 11. The user equipment 605 isconfigured to communicate with the base station 603 according to aselectable of at least two user equipment categories.

In some embodiments, the user equipment 605 comprises a receiving port1101 configured to receive information from the base station 605 aboutthe first number of maximum transmission layers. In some embodiments,the receiving port 1101 is further configured to receive the informationabout the first number of maximum transmission layers from the basestation 603 when the first number of transmission layers is larger thanthe second number of maximum transmission layers. In some embodiments,the information about the first number of maximum transmission layers isreceived from the base station 603 via a radio resource control,referred to as RRC, protocol. In some embodiments, the information aboutthe first number of maximum transmission layers is preconfigured in theuser equipment 605. In some embodiments, the selected user equipmentcategory and the first number of maximum transmission layers areassociated with release 8/9 of long term evolution, referred to as LTE,and the second number of maximum transmission layers are associated withrelease 10 of LTE. In some embodiments, the selected user equipmentcategory and the first number of maximum transmission layers areassociated with release 10 of LTE and the second number of maximumtransmission layers are associated with release 8/9 of LTE.

The user equipment 605 comprises a determining unit 1103 configured to,based on information about the selected user equipment category,determine a first number of maximum transmission layers supported by theuser equipment 605.

The user equipment 605 further comprises a communicating unit 1105configured to communicate with the base station 603 according to up tothe first number of maximum transmission layers and the selected userequipment category. In some embodiments, the communicating with the basestation 603 according to up to the first number of maximum transmissionlayers and the selected user equipment category is a downlinkcommunication in a direction from the base station 603 to the userequipment 605.

In some embodiments, the user equipment 605 comprises an obtaining unit1109 configured to obtain information about a state of a radio channel604 between the user equipment 605 and the base station 603 andaccording to the first number of maximum transmission layers.

In some embodiments, the user equipment 605 comprises a transmittingport 1108 configured to transmit, to the base station 603, informationabout the at least two user equipment categories and a number of maximumtransmission layers for each user equipment category. In someembodiments, the transmitting port 1108 is further configured totransmit the channel state information to the base station 603.

The present mechanism for communication between a user equipment 605 anda base station 603 in a communication network 600 may be implementedthrough one or more processors, such as a processing unit 1010 in thebase station 603 depicted in FIG. 10 and a processing unit 1120 in theuser equipment 605 depicted in FIG. 11, together with computer programcode for performing the functions of the embodiments herein. Theprocessor may be for example a Digital Signal Processor (DSP),Application Specific Integrated Circuit (ASIC) processor,Field-programmable gate array (FPGA) processor or micro processor. Theprogram code mentioned above may also be provided as a computer programproduct, for instance in the form of a data carrier carrying computerprogram code for performing the embodiments herein when being loadedinto the user equipment 605 and/or the base station 603. One suchcarrier may be in the form of a CD ROM disc. It is however feasible withother data carriers such as a memory stick. The computer program codemay furthermore be provided as pure program code on a server anddownloaded to the user equipment 605 and/or the base station 603remotely.

FIG. 12 illustrates non-limiting functional block diagrams of a basestation 603 and a user equipment 605 for implementing the technologydescribed above including the capability signaling. The base station 603includes an overall base station controller 1201 coupled to one or morememories 1203 that performs soft buffering. In relation to the userequipment 605, soft buffering may refer to performing rate matchingaccording to the total amount of soft channel bits. In relation to thebase station 603, soft buffering may refer to performing rate matchingaccording to the total amount of soft channel bits. Radio Frequency (RF)circuitry 1205 is coupled to multiple antennas 1208 for performing radiotransmission and reception for the base station. In FIG. 12, fourantennas 1208 are shown as an example. The antennas 1208 in FIG. 12corresponds to the transmitting port 1003 and the receiving port 1009 inFIG. 10. The example of FIG. 12 shows that carrier aggregation issupported. Multiple processors, corresponding to the determining unit1001, the processing unit 1010 and the communicating unit 1005 in FIG.10, are shown for performing corresponding tasks including HARQprocessing 1210, UE category signaling processing 1212, and MIMO layerprocessing 1215.

The user equipment 605 comprises similar processing and memory blocks,and depending on its release, more or less sophistication, bandwidth,and other capabilities. The user equipment 605 comprises an overall userequipment controller 1220 coupled to one or more memories 1223 thatperforms soft buffering. A RF circuitry 1225 is coupled to multipleantennas 1228 for performing radio transmission and reception for theuser equipment 605. In FIG. 12, two antennas 1228 are shown as anexample. The antennas 1228 in FIG. 12 corresponds to the transmittingport 1108 and the receiving port 1101 in FIG. 11. Multiple processors,corresponding to the determining unit 1103, the processing unit 1120,the obtaining unit 1109 and the communicating unit 1105 in FIG. 11, areshown for performing corresponding tasks including HARQ processing 1230,UE category signaling processing 1232, and MIMO layer processing 1235.The user equipment 605 further comprises a user interface 1240 forenabling communication with a user of the user equipment 605.

The above description sets forth specific details, such as particularembodiments for purposes of explanation and not limitation. But it willbe appreciated by one skilled in the art that other embodiments may beemployed apart from these specific details. In some instances, detaileddescriptions of well known methods, nodes, interfaces, circuits, anddevices are omitted so as not obscure the description with unnecessarydetail. Those skilled in the art will appreciate that the functionsdescribed may be implemented in one or more nodes using hardwarecircuitry, e.g., analog and/or discrete logic gates interconnected toperform a specialized function, ASICs, PLAs, etc. and/or using softwareprograms and data in conjunction with one or more digitalmicroprocessors or general purpose computers. Nodes that communicateusing the air interface also have suitable radio communicationscircuitry. Moreover, the technology may additionally be considered to beembodied entirely within any form of computer-readable memory, such assolid-state memory, magnetic disk, or optical disk containing anappropriate set of computer instructions that would cause a processor tocarry out the techniques described herein.

Hardware implementation may include or encompass, without limitation,digital signal processor (DSP) hardware, a reduced instruction setprocessor, hardware, e.g., digital or analog, circuitry including butnot limited to application specific integrated circuit(s) (ASIC) and/orfield programmable gate array(s) (FPGA(s)), and, where appropriate,state machines capable of performing such functions.

In terms of computer implementation, a computer is generally understoodto comprise one or more processors or one or more controllers, and theterms computer, processor, and controller may be employedinterchangeably. When provided by a computer, processor, or controller,the functions may be provided by a single dedicated computer orprocessor or controller, by a single shared computer or processor orcontroller, or by a plurality of individual computers or processors orcontrollers, some of which may be shared or distributed. Moreover, theterm “processor” or “controller” also refers to other hardware capableof performing such functions and/or executing software, such as theexample hardware recited above.

The description uses but is not limited to the non-limiting releaseexample introduced above.

Although the description above contains many specifics, they may not beconstrued as limiting but as merely providing illustrations of somepresently preferred embodiments. The technology fully encompasses otherembodiments which may become apparent to those skilled in the art.Reference to an element in the singular is not intended to mean “one andonly one” unless explicitly so stated, but rather “one or more.” Allstructural and functional equivalents to the elements of theabove-described embodiments that are known to those of ordinary skill inthe art are expressly incorporated herein by reference and are intendedto be encompassed hereby. Moreover, it is not necessary for a device ormethod to address each and every problem sought to be solved by thedescribed technology for it to be encompassed hereby.

The invention claimed is:
 1. A method in a base station forcommunicating with a user equipment in a communication network, the basestation being configured to communicate with the user equipmentaccording to a selectable of at least two user equipment categoriesincluding a user equipment category associated with release 8/9 of LongTerm Evolution (LTE) and a user equipment category associated withrelease 10 of LTE, the method comprising: based on information about aselected LTE user equipment category selected from the at least two userequipment categories including a user equipment category associated withrelease 8/9 of LTE and a user equipment category associated with release10 of LTE, determining a first number of maximum, Multiple InputMultiple Output (MIMO) transmission layers supported by the basestation; and communicating with the user equipment according to up tothe determined first number of maximum, MIMO transmission layers andaccording to the selected user equipment category.
 2. The methodaccording to claim 1, further comprising transmitting information to theuser equipment about the first number of maximum, MIMO transmissionlayers.
 3. The method according to claim 1, further comprising:receiving, from the user equipment, information about the at least twouser equipment categories and a number of maximum, MIMO transmissionlayers for each user equipment category.
 4. The method according toclaim 3, wherein the information about the first number of maximum, MIMOtransmission layers is transmitted to the user equipment when the firstnumber of maximum, MIMO transmission layers is larger than a secondnumber of maximum, MIMO transmission layers.
 5. The method according toclaim 4, further comprising: receiving channel state informationaccording to the first number of maximum, MIMO transmission layers fromthe user equipment, the channel state information comprising informationabout a state of a radio channel between the user equipment and the basestation.
 6. The method according to claim 1, wherein the informationabout the first number of maximum, MIMO transmission layers istransmitted to the user equipment via a radio resource control, referredto as RRC, protocol.
 7. The method according to claim 1, wherein thecommunicating with the user equipment according to up to the firstnumber of maximum, MIMO transmission layers and according to theselected user equipment category is a downlink communication in adirection from the base station to the user equipment.
 8. The methodaccording to claim 1, wherein the selected user equipment category andthe first number of maximum, MIMO transmission layers are associatedwith release 8/9 of LTE, and a second number of maximum, MIMOtransmission layers are associated with release 10 of LTE, or whereinthe selected user equipment category and the first number of maximum,MIMO transmission layers are associated with release 10 of LTE and thesecond number of maximum, MIMO transmission layers are associated withrelease 8/9 of LTE.
 9. A base station for communicating with a userequipment in a communication network, the base station being configuredto communicate with the user equipment according to a selectable of atleast two user equipment categories including a user equipment categoryassociated with release 8/9 of Long Term Evolution (LTE) and a userequipment category associated with release 10 of LTE, the base stationcomprising: a determining unit configured to, based on information abouta selected user equipment category selected from the at least two userequipment categories including a user equipment category associated withrelease 8/9 of LTE and a user equipment category associated with release10 of LTE, determine a first number of maximum, Multiple Input MultipleOutput (MIMO) transmission layers supported by the base station; and acommunicating unit configured to communicate with the user equipmentaccording to up to the first number of maximum, MIMO transmission layersand according to the selected user equipment category.
 10. The basestation according to claim 9, further comprising: a transmitting portconfigured to transmit information to the user equipment about the firstnumber of maximum, MIMO transmission layers.
 11. The base stationaccording to claim 9, further comprising: a receiving port configured toreceive, from the user equipment, information about the at least twouser equipment categories and a number of maximum, MIMO transmissionlayers for each user equipment category.
 12. The base station accordingto claim 1, wherein the information about the first number of maximum,MIMO transmission layers is transmitted to the user equipment when thefirst number of maximum, MIMO transmission layers is larger than asecond number of maximum, MIMO transmission layers.
 13. The base stationaccording to claim 9, wherein the receiving port is further configuredto receive channel state information according to the first number ofmaximum, MIMO transmission layers from the user equipment, the channelstate information comprising information about a state of a radiochannel between the user equipment and the base station.
 14. The basestation according to claim 9, wherein the transmitting port is furtherconfigured to transmit the information about the first number ofmaximum, MIMO transmission layers to the user equipment via a radioresource control, referred to as RRC, protocol.
 15. The base stationaccording to claim 9, wherein the communication with the user equipmentaccording to up to the first number of maximum, MIMO transmission layersand according to the selected user equipment category is a downlinkcommunication in a direction from the base station to the userequipment.
 16. The base station according to claim 9, wherein theselected user equipment category and the first number of maximum, MIMOtransmission layers are associated with release 8/9 of long termevolution, referred to as LTE, and a second number of maximum, MIMOtransmission layers are associated with release 10 of LTE, or whereinthe selected user equipment category and the first number of maximum,MIMO transmission layers are associated with release 10 of LTE and thesecond number of maximum, MIMO transmission layers are associated withrelease 8/9 of LTE.